Category: Asia

Growing Terrorist Threat In Southeast Asia

We’ve all heard about wars waged by ISIS in the Middle East but it seems that the threat is about to hit Asia hard as these Muslim terrorists have started expanding their caliphate. For almost a month now, the Philippine government is battling the Maute rebels that have pledged allegiance to ISIS in the battleground that is now Marawi in the southern part of the Philippines. It is being led by Isnilon Hapilon, who has a $5-million bounty on the head and included in the US list of most wanted terrorists. Innocent residents of this inland city have been evacuated but some have already fallen along with Philippine soldiers who came to their aid and are in hot pursuit of the local terrorist group.

It’s not ISIS fighters yet who took over the city but it has been a while since they have started recruiting in this part of the world. There were even other neighboring Asians like Malaysians and Indonesians who joined the Maute group during the attack, which is why the entire island of Mindanao has been put under Martial Law. As the Islamists are losing the battle on their turf (especially in Syria), they were reportedly planning to move and create a new terrorist hub in Southeast Asia. It is indeed very alarming news for the many Southeast Asian nations who aren’t equipped to deal with this kind of terrorism.

Southeast Asia’s jihadis who fought by the

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Hallyu Ban In China

The Hallyu Wave is popular in different countries in Asia for more or less a decade now. People can’t get enough of these Korean stars, whether in KPop or Kdrama. Who can’t resist these charming Koreans singing and dancing their stuff on stage or crying their hearts out in many popular Korean dramas that have captured the world by storm? With their flawless skin, stunning visuals and amazing talent of South Korean stars, the Hallyu Wave helped boost Korea’s impressive economy that is the 4th in all of Asia and 11th globally.

Unfortunately, the recent rift between China and South Korea because of the latter’s friendly relationship with the US (and the renowned THAAD System – missile defense system against North Korea). Even if it was the Chinese press that came up with the term “Hallyu” back in the late 1990s, China has recently imposed a Hallyu ban on all South Korean stars and performers who are traveling to China. Despite the warm reception of millions of Chinese to everything Hallyu in their lives, the Chinese government has now intervened and are determined to cut ties with South Korea because of their active missile program in collaboration with America.

First, there was unconfirmed news that K-pop artists, those adorable groups of singers whom the Chinese couldn’t get enough of, were blacklisted by Beijing. Then, heartthrobs like Song Joong-ki, the male lead in the drama series “The Descendants

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